Archive for the ‘Employee Development’ Category

There are ways to make yourself more ‘stress-hardy’ so that you develop the resiliency to manage stress more effectively. While the following strategies may not be intuitive, these are approaches that can help alleviate feelings of pressure and tension and can be learned and practiced until you become a Master.

Being a Mentor can be very rewarding. Providing support, suggestions and information to someone who is eager to for it can enrich both your career and theirs. But in an effort to provide assistance, some Mentors go too far. In order to avoid crossing the line, it’s good to know where the line is in the first place.

A poorly executed jump in status can hurt a person’s career and have a negative impact on the workplace. However – being plucked from the group and asked to serve is rarely an opportunity to turn down if you are excited about advancing your career.

“Do these pants make me look fat?” In an effort to avoid being considered impolite or rude, you may be trying to avoid embarrassment or awkwardness on the part of the other person. That can result in your being less than honest. But if you soften the truth —

You can’t undo months of neglect or poor treatment. You can’t magically erase the challenges you were facing while everyone was holding on with their fingernails. But you CAN do some of the things that matter, because they matter now:

How do you get people to ask for help? I know that it is hard to ask for help in an environment that expects and sometimes demands self-sufficiency. A request for support can make people to feel ashamed, fear the loss of control, and worry that they will appear “less than” in the eyes of those who matter. And often those that matter are the same ones that hold the keys to the next promotion.

Competing for air-time is a professional sport. We compete to get our ideas heard, to win the argument, and to clarify our points. More often than not, people interrupt each other to maximize their air-time. (Presidential debates aside!)